Dense Silky-bent vs Long-tailed Sylph

Apera interrupta compared with Aglaiocercus kingii

Key Differences

• Dense Silky-bent is Near Threatened while Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Dense Silky-bent	Long-tailed Sylph
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Liliopsida (Monocots)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Poales (Grasses)	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)
Family	Poaceae (Grass Family)	Trochilidae
Genus	Apera	Aglaiocercus
Species	Apera interrupta	Aglaiocercus kingii

Conservation Status

Dense Silky-bent

NT — Near Threatened

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Dense Silky-bent	Long-tailed Sylph
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Dense Silky-bent

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, temperate grasslands and steppes, and flooded grasslands and savannas, among 4 distinct biome types within the Neotropic biogeographic realm.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Japan), Europe (9 countries), North America (Canada, United States), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia), and South America (Argentina, Chile). Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

Long-tailed Sylph

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, and Venezuela.

Long-tailed Sylph

One of the most strikingly ornamented hummingbirds, male long-tailed sylphs have iridescent green plumage and dramatically elongated, ribbon-like outer tail feathers reaching up to 22 cm — over three times the body length. Found in Andean cloud forests of Colombia and Venezuela, they inhabit humid montane forest between 1,400–2,800 meters elevation. Males perform elaborate display flights to attract females. Their extravagant tails are a classic example of sexual selection via female preference.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 1 countries:

🇳🇴 Norway